Twenty percent of senior executives unprepared for transition

One-fifth of Senior Executive Service members have no knowledge of presidential transition activities at their agencies, according to a new survey by the National Academy of Public Administration.

The survey results, released on Thursday at the academy's fall meeting, indicated that most senior executives appear to be making traditional preparations for the handoff, such as compiling information on agency budgets and mandates, and scheduling briefings on key programs and initiatives. But 21 percent of executives said they were not aware of such actions.

"I'm a charter member of the SES, and the response of 20 percent of existing senior executives who said they could not answer the question of the transition activities under way at their agencies -- that's deplorable," said Kristine Marcy, an associate at the consulting firm McConnell International, during a presentation of the survey results. "The whole premise of the Senior Executive Service is that you have the management skills and the leadership skills to step up to the plate."

The questionnaire, which was distributed to 4,799 senior executives during September and October, had a 23 percent response rate. The goal was to determine how to best cultivate effective partnerships between career and political leaders in the next administration.

Marcy said executives who lacked transition knowledge might have a harder time forging relationships with appointees, and advised the academy to help train them. "It may mean they're risk-averse," she said, "but that's another troubling fact we need to deal with in government."

Most senior executives who responded to the survey said they had not been through a presidential transition in their current role, and 33 percent reported they had not experienced a shift in political leadership at their agency. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they have been in the government for more than 20 years.

Executives identified confirmation delays, a lack of trust between career and political officials, and appointee reluctance to identify and leverage the expertise of career employees as having the greatest potential to slow the transition. Responses also suggested that senior executives see their roles at federal agencies as internally focused, while they view political appointees as working externally, particularly with Congress.

NAPA recommended that executives conduct briefings on programs, the budget and strategic initiatives; learn how the goals and management styles of incoming appointees align with the organization; and provide honest counsel when appointees seek their help.

"There's a responsibility for career executives to prepare their organizations," Marcy said. "They have the responsibility for cross-training and cross-orientation with their peers and with their subordinate staff, and I think sometimes that's lost."

Meanwhile, NAPA conducted a separate survey of current Senate-confirmed presidential appointees to gauge their perspectives and to provide advice to the next generation of agency leaders. An interim report, also released at Thursday's meeting, said appointees listed managing and evaluating employee performance and measuring results among their most important responsibilities.

Current appointees also highlighted the importance of working with career employees, and cited leadership and negotiation skills as the most vital to their management strategy. They said it was critical for career employees to have knowledge of agency policies and processes and to support goals set by the new leaders.

Bush appointees also ranked the Program Assessment Rating Tool and executive branch score card as the most helpful in achieving their agencies' missions, with more than 40 percent recommending that the next administration retain and modify those processes.

In addition, 45 percent of political appointees reported receiving no orientation when they assumed leadership, while 33 percent said they received an orientation but only at the agency level. Eighty-five percent said they wanted more training but could not agree on how it should work.

Edward DeSeve, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government, said the next step will be to share information from the appointee survey with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, with the goal of establishing a training curriculum for appointees and career executives. NAPA plans to produce and distribute a final report by Dec. 31, he said.

"We think this is very important -- this idea of listening and trusting," DeSeve said. "Another one of my theories is that SES and PAS can be trained together … in a way that has both groups working together to be most effective as senior management."